The other day, I was watching Mad Men again. After a few rewatches, you begin to shift your focus away from Don Draper’s double identity or the endless romantic relationships that unfold. Instead, you start to notice the wallpaper, the background—the very elements that YouTube curiously prioritizes in its clips: the campaigns. The protagonist’s existential doubts take a backseat, and your eyes fix on understanding why the Kodak Carousel pitch is so brilliant. Or why the Jaguar campaign feels so impactful. Is it Don’s tone during his presentation? Is it the reactions of the people listening? Is it the music? Surely, it’s all of it, but today, let’s focus on the story.
Storytelling in digital products is the art of integrating narrative elements into the user experience to make interactions more engaging and meaningful. It’s about crafting a cohesive story that guides users through the product, creating emotional connections and enhancing usability. By embedding storytelling into design, we transform ordinary features into compelling journeys, helping users understand not just how a product works, but why it exists and how it fits into their lives. This narrative approach can differentiate a product in a crowded market, fostering loyalty and making the experience memorable.
The Difference Between Products with Storytelling and Those Without
Products that incorporate storytelling stand out by creating emotional resonance and a deeper connection with users. Consider Apple. The “Think Different” campaign wasn’t just about computers. It told stories of innovators and visionaries, associating the brand with creativity and challenging the status quo. This storytelling approach made the brand memorable and forged a strong emotional bond with consumers.
On the other hand, products without storytelling often rely solely on presenting features and specifications. While they may be functionally adequate, they can fail to engage users on a deeper level. Consumers are more likely to engage with and remain loyal to brands that tell a story they can relate to. According to a study by Headstream, if people love a brand’s story, 55% are more likely to buy the product in the future, and 44% will share the story with others.
Another example is Airbnb, which uses storytelling by focusing on user-generated content—stories from hosts and travelers—that create a sense of community and belonging. This approach has helped differentiate Airbnb in the hospitality market and fostered trust and loyalty among users.
In contrast, a generic hotel booking site that simply lists properties without any narrative may not inspire the same level of engagement. Without an emotional connection, such platforms risk becoming commodities, competing primarily on price rather than building lasting relationships with users.
Looking good
Digital storytelling is a great choice for brands looking to “gently” market their products. Spor manages this masterfully in this example, showing off their jewelry by telling the story of an apple farmer. This design is filled with visuals that capture the artistry of Spor’s jewelry in a way that feels connected to nature. This piece makes takes advantage of Vev’s ready-made digital storytelling components—including parallax image, embedded video, and complex animations—to produce a seamless scrolling experience.
Our model is based precisely on that. Before we begin designing, we ask ourselves: What is the narrative of the product? How does it tell its story throughout the site? Storytelling plays a massive part in product design, allowing designers to reach users from an emotional and more personal point of view. By crafting a compelling narrative, we can capture imaginations and tap into emotions, creating a deeper connection with our audience.
There is a trick
Even so, there’s truth in the matter. It’s much easier to implement storytelling on a website than on a complete platform. It’s not just about the flow of a beautiful parallax effect but about navigating the unpredictability of the user journey. Where will the user go? How do I respond depending on where they go?In product design, storytelling is less obvious because it happens from the inside out. Users may take non-linear paths, making it challenging to maintain a cohesive narrative throughout their experience.
There are various types of storytelling we can apply in product design:
- The Hero’s Journey: Also known as the monomyth, it’s a narrative structure identified by Joseph Campbell. It involves a hero who goes on an adventure, faces a crisis, wins a victory, and returns transformed. This structure is prevalent in epic stories and films.
- Three-Act Structure: Divides the story into introduction, development, and resolution, allowing for a clear and understandable flow.
- Non-linear Narrative: Breaks the chronological sequence, presenting events out of order to create mystery or depth.
- Circular Narrative: The story ends where it began, showing a complete cycle and allowing reflection on the change that occurred.
- Episodic Narrative: Presents the story in separate segments or episodes, each contributing to the overall narrative.
Let’s see an example. Integrating The Hero’s Journey into a digital product involves positioning the user as the protagonist of their own epic narrative within your product. For example, in a language learning app, the user starts as a beginner responding to the “call to adventure” to learn a new language. As they progress, they face challenges (difficult lessons, quizzes), receive guidance from mentors (interactive tutorials, AI tutors), and gain allies (community forums, fellow learners). Each achievement unlocks new levels, symbolizing victories in their journey. Eventually, the user reaches fluency, transformed by their experiences. By structuring the user experience around this narrative arc, you make the journey more engaging and emotionally resonant, encouraging continued use and fostering a deeper connection with the product.
AirBnB applied the hero journey when they started designing AirBnB trips, a new section on the website that offers people not just an apartment, but also experiences surrounding the place you’ve booked. This way, AirBnB is tapping to a more emotional customer journey as a truly experiential brand (quite literally so in this case: it’s about the journey, not the destination). They found that, for example, people need to overcome a challenge by stepping out of their comfort zone, to be able to grow and transform — think of a kayak trip, mountain climbing or simply trying out a new dish.
Can We Incorporate AI into This?
Absolutely! Incorporating artificial intelligence into storytelling can enhance personalization and adaptability. Storytelling in product design relies on empathy and understanding of user needs. AI can help analyze user behaviors, preferences, and frustrations to tailor the narrative accordingly.By using AI, we can develop story concepts that evolve with the user, enhancing engagement and creating an impactful experience. After all, storytelling is one of the oldest and most effective means we have of engaging an audience, helping people empathize and emotionally connect with our products.
In a world saturated with products and information, those that tell a compelling story stand out. Good storytelling has the ability to evoke powerful emotions, making users more eager to learn why your product is worth their time. As designers, our job is to craft these narratives, guiding users through an experience that is not only functional but also emotionally resonant.Because at the end of the day, just like in Mad Men, what truly captivates us is a well-told story.
